


Do not dawdle, we have not the time to tarry

by pennedgalaxy



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-20
Updated: 2015-05-20
Packaged: 2018-03-31 12:29:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3978073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pennedgalaxy/pseuds/pennedgalaxy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The speedster chuckled and placed his project down atop the table, he wouldn’t get much work done that night. “I might have borrowed something from Harrison's coffee hoard.”</p><p>“No.” She remarked scandalised. “He's going to be angry.  My husband holds his hoard sacred, when he realises, well, you better be careful.”</p><p>Eobard laughed and moved closer to Tess with a smile set upon his face, his blonde hair ruffled by tiredness. “I think I can handle myself.”</p><p>“Oh really?” She asked, her lip curling upwards.</p><p>“If nothing else I can always outrun him.”</p><p>“Now, pal, those are fighting words.” They heard erupt from the doorway; there stood Harrison leaning on the doorframe.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Do not dawdle, we have not the time to tarry

**Author's Note:**

> So this is a oneshot from an AU where Eobard set up the car wreck but didn't kill either of them, he used the accident to manipulate his way into their lives. I hope you all enjoy this Tarribard fic.

“Eobard, honey, why are you awake so late?” A female voice questioned from behind him. He turned around and there was Tess Morgan dressed in a white nightgown made of lace, it trailed down until it met her thighs, and underneath it was a pair of pale yellow shorts. 

Eobard gave a sharp smile. “Ah, Tess.” He started. “I'm just getting in some late night work with the accelerator.”

Tess raised a confused but incredulous eyebrow. “It's four in the morning, E.”

The speedster chuckled and placed his project down atop the table, he wouldn’t get much work done that night. “I might have borrowed something from Harrison's coffee hoard.”

“No.” She remarked scandalised. “He's going to be angry.  My husband holds his hoard sacred, when he realises, well, you better be careful.”

Eobard laughed and moved closer to Tess with a smile set upon his face, his blonde hair ruffled by tiredness. “I think I can handle myself.”

“Oh really?” She asked, her lip curling upwards.

“If nothing else I can always outrun him.”

“Now, pal, those are fighting words.” They heard erupt from the doorway; there stood Harrison leaning on the doorframe. His arms were crossed over his chest and his glasses were perched elegantly atop his nose. Harrison raised an eyebrow at the two of them. “Am I interrupting something?”

“Harrison!” Tess exclaimed in surprise. “Don't make me put a bell on you.”

Harrison chuckled and entered the lab. “Sounds vaguely sexual, Tess, you've been speaking with Hartley again, haven't you?”

Tess rolled her eyes. “Doctor Wells, you are a terrible person.” She remarked with a chuckle.

Harrison smiled and bridged the distance between them and grabbed Tess by the waist, nuzzling into her hair. “Hmm, _Doctor Wells_ , I try.” He laughed against her skin.

She reached upwards and gave him a kiss on his shoulder. “It’s Doctor Morgan, I’ll think you’ll find.” From behind them Eobard gave an interrupting cough.

“Ah.” said Harrison. “Sorry about that, E.”

Tess slapped at Harrison's chest weakly until he leaned away. “You so aren't.”

“Anyway.” Harrison began. “What are you doing up so late, Eobard?”

Eobard stilled and lies filled his mind, he could say anything to them and they would probably believe it, they would want to even, they thought only the best of him and a part of him recoiled at that, another part of him wished for far more than he could ask for.

Desire flooded his head and he could think only of telling them the truth, or at least some fraction of it, he could paint himself as a misbegotten traveller lost in time and trapped in their romantic orbit. He could twist and turn the truth, manipulate them more than he had already done. But why would he do it? He knew why and it wasn’t just to speed things along, there was a hole within him and without even trying they had filled it with the most startling of ease.

“Harrison, if you were ever stranded far away from home, what would you do to get back?”

Harrison blinked in confusion at the odd and abrupt question. “I would do anything I possibly could. I'd do anything to get back here to you and Tess.”

“ _Me_ and Tess?”

Harrison stilled immediately and looked away. “I hope that doesn’t make you uncomfortable.”

Tess simply paused and looked between them two, a knowing and almost cautious look upon her face.  “We've know you fifteen years, Eobard. You should know the answer to that question by now, it'll always be the same and it's something we've never been able to put into words.”

“Tess...” Eobard trailed off. “If you're implying what I believe you are-”

Both Harrison and Tess stepped forward; their body language beckoned him closer. “We are.” Harrison replied.

Eobard froze in place, could he really tell them? Would they truly understand? He exhaled shakily and closed his eyes softly. “-then my lies will hurt you even more.”

“Lies?” Harrison questioned. “What lies? Eobard you've been nothing but truthful and earnest-”

Suddenly Eobard blurred into motion, his form left a brief, but visible, afterimage and within a second he was in front of them, gently grasping at each of their outstretched hands. “-with us.” finished Harrison dumb struck.

“My lies are numerous, countless even, I’m not who you think I am.”

“You, you just appeared in front of us.” Tess said in surprise. “There were two of you. How? How did you do that?”

“Eobard...”

The speedster sighed and hung his head in unforeseen shame. “I’m, I’m not from this time. I was born many years from now.”

“You're a time traveller?” Harrison questioned. “Martin Stein proposed many thorough thought experiments on the subject but I never even dreamed such a thing was possible!”

Eobard shrugged. “It wasn’t a commonality of my era, mostly it was used in emergencies or by the immensely influential.”

“Wait a minute, but you've been here for _years_ , fifteen years.” Tess remarked. “Why?”

“I didn’t stay of my own free will, if that’s what you’re asking. I was trapped here, drained of my power, the power that would return me home. What I retain of my power is very little, it's not enough to send me back.”

Suddenly Harrison's eyes widened as if he had just realised something important, as if he had just unravelled a mystery within his own mind. “The particle accelerator.”

Tess frowned in thought. “You want to use it to get home.”

“In a manner of speaking, yes.”

Harrison scowled. “Fifteen years.” He remarked. “Fifteen years you've been with us, and you didn’t say a thing. Why didn’t you tell us earlier? Did you think we’d judge you so quickly, did you think we wouldn’t understand?”

Eobard looked away and tried to remove his hand from their grasp, but their grip only tightened. “To me you've been dead for centuries, if I told you what I was, where I was from, I was afraid, afraid that I would miss you when the time came for me to leave.”

“Eobard.” Tess sighed sadly, but a fond, bittersweet, smile framed her face.

He looked away, his eyes focusing on the particle accelerator, Tess used her free hand to grip him softly by the jaw and she forced him to look at the truth he was evading, the truth that was the three of them. “I love you, Eobard. I've loved you for longer than seems possible, _we_ love you.”

Harrison smiled warmly. “She's the smartest person in the room; you really should listen to her.”

Eobard looked at their joined hands and sighed. “I can’t fight this, don’t make me fights this.”

 Harrison removed his hand for a moment and removed his old promise ring from his finger. Weaving their hands together again he slid the ring into the other man's palm. “Then don't.” He began. “It's yours if you want it, we are too.”

Tess stared on with bated breath, waiting for Eobard to answer the question residing in all of their hearts.

Eobard grinned and removed his hand; he vibrated it until the ring manifested onto his finger, startling them both at the same time.

“Nice party trick.” Harrison remarked with an intrigued expression.

Tess looked at Eobard appraisingly. “I'd like to see the physical applications of such a skill.”

For the first time in a long while Eobard gave a hearty honest laugh. “We'll have to see about that.”


End file.
